Setting: The apartment of a very close friend, in the company of people who I trust with my life and feel very comfortable around. He had planned a party, I was the sole individual consuming substances other than alcohol and cannabis. There was noisy music in the background, but it was not especially oppressive, no louder than headphones would be when slightly below their maximum volume.

Background: I am a pharmacology student who takes careful care not to use more than two drugs in the span of one month, and as of right now I do not have any drug dependence or tolerance, and I am not consistently taking any of my prescribed medication, so there is very low probability of drug interaction. A friend of mine had a 150mg Bupropion XL script, and he had told me that after taking it for a week he wanted to discontinue usage and offered to sell it to me for $5. Any opportunity to experiment with new substances is a good one. I read reports from people who have used bupropion in a recreational setting, and some reported it's the same thing as coke, others reported that it felt like inhaling table salt, and it seemed like it was a different experience for different people, so I decided that it would be a good opportunity to try something new and make sense of it myself. I'm prescribed 200mg sertraline, 100mg trazodone, and 1200mg gabapentin, and I've been off of all three for at least two weeks. I am specifically committed to researching the effects of antidepressants when abused, so this truly was a great opportunity for me. This experience was not unlike my experiences with cocaine and various amphetamines, but I was notably more delirious and anxious with bupropion than I have been with other stimulants in the past. I experienced very severe arrhythmia and had more than one moment of panic, but I was with a close group of medical students at the time, and that eased some of my worry (although somewhat irrationally, considering they were all intoxicated).

Report

Content:

T+ 0:25 – This writing is taking place in real time. I am typing this approximately 25 minutes after I have insufflated the first 75µg of powdered bupropion. The powder carried a stinging sensation as it entered my lungs, but shortly thereafter it was numbed, very similar to insufflating cocaine. I find that I am more awake than I was previously. I am not experiencing any unusual urges related to food. No munchies. I feel very motivated to write, but that may be due to the fact that I have been excited about researching bupropion specifically. I have an urgent need to urinate at the moment but that may or may not be related. I do not feel physically sick. The only noticeable difference has been an increased feeling of alertness, equivalent to approximately 160mg of caffeine (this figure is relative and the 75µg:160µg ratio is unlikely to transfer to others, there are too many factors to be able to make a precise measurement).

T+ 1:10 – I have thus far consumed the equivalent of 1 entire pill of bupropion, 150mg in. The throat discomfort was unnoticeable by the time I consumed the second line. I haven’t given much time in between doses, so I cannot say for sure what the duration of one 75mg line is. I have an increased awareness of the music being played, and although my colleagues have assured me that the volume has not been increased since the music was initially turned on, it sounds about 1.5-2x louder than it was when it started. It’s a rather harsh sub-genre of EDM, not quite dubstep, but it is definitely painful at this point. I am beginning to get a headache. I may delay my next dosage until the pain subsides. My friends have also informed me that some of my speech is not coherent, but they keep mumbling and whispering for no discernible reason, so I doubt I am the one that needs to develop clearer speech. (I reviewed notes like this while sober and have concluded that it was the drugs, no shit)

T+ 1:55 – The music is extremely painful now. Extremely. The amount of clothing I have covering my head makes absolutely no difference, it consistently sounds like a rocket engine is taking off in my brain. A friend is shouting at me about how the music has been off for 10 minutes. I unplug the stereo, the music continues, I look for whatever other speaker it’s playing out of without success. Slight visuals- moderate level 2 geometry but nothing more intense than that.

T+ 2:40 – The auditory pain has become bearable again, and I’ve just insufflated an additional line of bupropion, bringing me to 300mg. I should have known to stop at 225mg. There’s an extremely uncomfortable– but not “painful”– sensation radiating from the core of my body. Like an itch, feels like needles are under my skin. Music is once again painful. I have a rather harsh headache now, similar to a migraine… I’ve turned down the music and grabbed ear muffs from one of my friends, which helps with the auditory pain, but at the moment any type of light exacerbates the headache. I am considering taking pregabalin as a safety measure and quitting here.

T+ 3:15 – I worry about my seizure risk. I have taken 150mg of pregabalin as a precaution and have decided to cease further dosing.

T+ 4:15 – Headache is beginning to subside thanks to 400mg of ibuprofen (consumed at T+ 3:50). I am confident that my seizure threshold is significantly higher now than it was an hour ago, and I think that the pregabalin may have assisted in getting rid of the headache because of its inherent properties as a nervous system depressant. I continue feeling alert, and awareness continues to be high but pain has been consistently decreasing for at least 10 minutes.

T+ 5:30 – A colleague woke up in the dead of night and has suggested that I post this on here, instead of to my blog, which contains all of my other reports, but he has convinced me to transfer my library of work to websites where I can be credited for my valiant journey into the unknown for science and the wellbeing of humanity.

T+ 8:50 – I believe I am back to my baseline state of awareness and sensitivity, and I have finally become drowsy. I’m not sure if that was residue from the stress of the bupropion or if I should credit the pregabalin for its hypnotic effect. In any case, I am glad to be tired again. This was not the worst drug experience I've ever had, but it certainly lacked the euphoria that many others have reported. I probably won't be trying this again, but I'm glad I tried it once.

Reading this over again, I'm pretty sure that nobody was yelling and that once I unplugged the speaker, the music actually did stop. I'm not enthused by the audio sensitivity that accompanied that experience. From what my friends remember of that night, they described me as irritable and anxious and absolutely impossible to understand. I'm not sure why I couldn't understand them, but it was either because of one of the drugs I took or it was because they were all drunk. Anyway, this isn't worth experimenting with. Just do coke.